Hem sewing attachment for sewing machines



Dec. 8, 1953 J. HICKEY HEM SEWING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed March 27, 1951 2 Sheets-Shet 1 INVENTOR. JAMES HICKEY ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1953 J. HICKEY 2,661,710

HEM SEWING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Mrch 27, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JAMES HIOKEY ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1953 is;

UNITED, STATES m m OFFICE SEWING MACHINES James Hickey, Portland, Oreg. Application March 27, 1951, Serial No. 217,756

the stitching running so close to the edge of the fold that the thread will not go through to the front side of the material. However; with thin material this is not possible, and when a hem of this nature is to be sewed in thin material, the method followed for making the hem line less apparent from the front side of the material is to have the needle and thread pass through to the front side of the material only at spaced intervals. The present invention relates specifically to the sewing of a hem of this nature in thin material.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved attachment for an ordinary sewing machine by which a blind hem of the latter mentioned type can be readily made.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a hem sewing attachment which can quickly and easily be attached to any ordinary sewing machine when such a hem is to be sewed, and then quickly detached and removed from the machine when no longer needed.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an improved hem sewingattachment of this nature which will be'entirely separate from the sewing machine and which will be simple in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture so that it can be made available for all sewing machine owners or users at slight cost.

The construction and manner of operation of my improved hem sewing attachment embodying my invention will be readily understood from the following brief description of the same, in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my hem sewing attachment illustrating the same mounted in operating position on an ordinary sewing machine, the sewing machine needle, needle carrier, and presser foot supporting shaft of the sewing machine being indicated merely by broken lines for the sake of clarity;

2 is an elevation of my hem sewing attachment mounted in position on a sewing machine, the elevation showing the left side or near side of the attachment as viewed in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a corresponding elevation of the op posite side of the hem sewing attachment mounted in position on'a sewing machine; 7

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section through the hem sewing attachment taken on line 4-4 of Fig. '3, looking in the direction indicated by the' arrows, but drawn to a larger scale;

Fig. 5 is an exploded view showing in perspective all the individual parts and members of the hem sewing attachment, these being separated from each other but arranged'in theirrelative position with respect to each other;

Fig. 6 is a plan section on line 6-6 of Fig; 2, but drawn to a larger scale;

Figs. 7 and 8 are fragmentary plan views illustrating the sewing of the hem with the sewing machine needle in normal position and when temporarily moved out of normal position respectively; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a bottom hem line in a piece of material illustrating a hem sewed with my attachment.

My hem sewing attachment includes a main member which has a side wall portion indicated in general by the reference character it) and an integral bottom portion indicated in general by the reference character H. The preferred general shape of this main member is shown most clearly'in Figs. 5 and 1. The bottom portion I i to a certain extent, resembles the ordinary presser foot in a sewing machine and takes the place of the presser foot when my attachment is used. The front end of the side wall portion H3 is formed with a pair of parallel offset extensions i2, It so shaped as to fit part way around the ordinary presser foot supporting shaft !4 of a sewing machine. (see Figs. 1, 2 and 3), and having a slot between them to accommodate the shank of the securing screw is by which the presser foot ordinarily. is attached in placeand by which my hero sewing attachment is held firmly in position on the sewing machine in place of the presser foot.

The sidewall portion 18 is formed with a bearing it, including an integral boss on each side (Figs. 4 and 5), in which a, rotatable stub shaft I! is mounted. An actuating arm it (see also Fig. 3) is pivotally supported on the stub shaft I! on one side of the wall I9, and a ratchet wheel I9 is rigidly secured to the end of this stub shaft ll beyond the actuating arm l8. A cam wheel 20, to, be described later, is secured on the opposite end of the stub shaft H and is thus located on the other, or inner, side of the wall it.

; The forward end of the actuating arm 98 is slightly offset as shown and is formed with a slot 2! so as to engage the screw 22 (Fig. 3) by which the sewing machine needle 23 is clamped in the needle carrier or needle shaft 24 of the sewing machine. A pawl 25 is pivotally mounted on the outer face of the actuating arm [8 by a pin 26 and is held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel if) by a wire spring 2'! (Fig. supported on the pin 26, the ends of the spring 21 being inserted through a hole 28 in the actuating arm 18 with one of the ends engaging the pawl 25. Thus, as will be apparent from Fig. 3, up and down reciprocation of the needle shaft 24 will result in rotation of the ratchet'wheel l9 and therewith rotation of the stub shaft l! (the rotation being counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 3).

A positioning lever arm 29 (shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 6) is carried on the bottom portion ll of the main frame member and is pivotally mounted thereon by means of the screw 36 for limited swinging movement in a substantially horizontal plane. The rear end of this positioning lever arm 29 has an upwardly-extending camengaging flange 3| (Figs. 2, i, 5 and 5) which bears against the inside face of the cam wheel 20. A spring 32 is formed integral with the arm 29 and comprises an offset rearwardly-extending free end of a side flange, this free rearwardlyextending end of the integral spring being so arranged as to bear constantly against the outside face of the cam wheel 20.

The front end H of the bottom portion of the frame is extended forwardly at a lower level and is made to conform somewhat in shape to the shape of the presser foot of a sewing machine and thus is adapted to press down on the material which is being sewed or hemmed. This front end H, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, has a slot 33 through which the sewing machine needle 23 passes. On one side of the needle slot this front end terminates in an upwardly-inclined flange 34 and on the other side of the needle slot this front end is extended into a tongue 35 which extends further forwardly a slight distance and the tip of which is also bent slightly upwardly as shown in Fig. 2.

The front end of the positioning lever arm 29 is formed with a pair of flanges 38 and 3? located in a line above one side of the needle slot 33.

The first flange 35 extends obliquely downwardly over one side of the needle slot 33 and the other flange 3?, located slightly forward of the first flange, extends approximately vertically downwardly. The purpose of the flange 36 is to engage the sewing machine needle 23 whenever the positioning lever arm 29 is swung from its normal position and thereupon to push the needle somewhat slightly to one side. An upstanding flange 38 on the tongue 35 is arranged to engage the downwardly-extending flange 31 when this swing of the positioning arm 29 occurs so as to prevent any possibility of the sewing machine needle being accidentally pushed too far to one side.

The cam wheel 22 is formed with a pair of diametrically opposite raised tongues 59 and 39' extending on radial lines from the inside face of the cam wheel, and these raised tongues are so arranged as to engage the flange 3! of the positioning lever arm 29 periodically as the cam wheel is rotated (the rotation of the cam wheel being'clockwise as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2). The cam wheel 2%) has a boss 22 through which a set screw extends in order to hold, the cam wheel 29 securely to the stub shaft I! to cause it to 4 be rotated with the stub shaft. A screw 60 and washer M are also provided to hold the cam wheel 20 firmly on the stub shaft H.

The spring 32 (Figs. 1, 2 and 6), constantly pressing against the outer face of the cam wheel 20, acts to hold the flange 3i of the positioning arm 29 pressed against the inside face of the cam wheel and holds the positioning lever arm 29 in normal position at all times except when the flange 3! is engaged by either of the cam tongues 39 or 39. This normal position of the positioning lever arm 29 is illustrated in Fig. 6 and in this position the flange 36 does not engage the sewing machine needle. However, when one of the cam tongues 39 or 39' of the cam wheel 20 is brought into contact with the flange 3| of the positioning lever arm 29, the lever arm is swung slightly against the force of the spring 32, which results in the flange 36 momentarily being pushed into engagement with the sewing machine needle and thus thrusting the bottom end of the sewing machine needle slightly to one side.

In Figs. '7 and 3 I show a hem in the process of being made with my attachment, Fig. '7 showing the sewing machine needle 23 in normal position and Fig. 8 showing the sewing machine needle 23 momentarily moved out of normal position by engagement of the flange 36 of the positioning lever arm 29 with the lower portion of the needle. Fig. 9 shows, in perspective, the'end of the finished blind hem. In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 the wrong side of the material is uppermost and is indicated by the reference character 44. The right side of the material, or the side from which it is desired that the hem line should not show, is the lower side and indicated at in Fig. 9. The edge of the material is folded into the bottom hem fold, as shown at 42 in Fig. 9, and the material is then folded back a second time on top of the hemfold, as shown at 43. The stitching of the hem follows the line cc, thus adjacent to, but not through the top fold 43, except at intervals when the machine needle is pushed to one side by the operation of my attachment, in the manner already explained, whereupon the stitching goes through the edge of the fold 43 at such points as 11 This is a well known form of machine blind stitching for thin or light weight fabric.

When it is desired to perform this type of blind stitching with an ordinary sewing machine all that is required with my device is to remove the ordinary presser foot from the presser foot shaft IA of the machine and install my attachment in place thereon with the actuating arm 8 in engagement with the needle clamping screw '22. This is a simple operation which is very quickly and easily performed. Subsequently the removal of my attachment and the replacement of the ordinary presser foot in the machine is done just as simply and easily.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine hem sewing attachment of the character described, a main frame adapted to be removably secured on the sewing machine presser foot supporting shaft in place of the ordinary presser foot, a rotating element mounted in said main frame for rotation on a horizontal axis, means adapted to be connected to and to be operated by the sewing machine needle shaft so as to produce rotation of said rotating element with the reciprocation of said needle shaft, a positioning lever arm pivotally supported on said main frame for limited swinging movement in a substantially horizontal plane, the forward end of said arm adapted to extend along one side of the vertical path of the sewing machine needle, an element on said forward end of said arm adapted to engage said needle when said arm is swung from its normal position whereby to bend said needle slightly from its normal path, a cam wheel secured on said rotating element, a cam follower element on said arm in contact with said cam wheel, and a spring holding said cam follower element of said positioning lever arm and therewith said positioning lever arm constantly in contact with said cam wheel so as to cause said arm to be iven a lateral swinging movement by the rotation of said cam wheel, whereupon with the operation of the sewing machine, the needle will be intermittently thrust slightly laterally for the purpose described.

2. In a sewing machine hem sewing attachment of the character described, a main frame adapted to be removably secured on the sewing machine presser foot supporting shaft in place of the ordinary presser foot, a stub shaft mounted in said main frame for rotation on a horizontal axis, means adapted to be connected to and to be operated by the sewing machine needle shaft so as to produce rotation of said stub shaft with the reciprocation of said needle shaft, a positioning lever arm pivotally supported on said main frame for limited swinging movement in a substantially horizontal plane, the forward end of said arm adapted to extend along one side of the vertical path of the sewing machine needle, a flange on said forward end of said arm adapted to engage said needle when said arm is swung from its normal position whereby to bend said needle slightly from its normal path, a member rotated'by said stub shaft, a cam on said member, an element on said arm intermittently engaged by said cam whereby to cause said arm to be swung from its normal position, and a spring holding said element on said positioning lever arm in constant engagement with the face of said rotating member on which said cam is located and thereby maintaining said lever arm in normal position except when said arm is moved out of normal position by said cam, whereupon with the operation of the sewing machine, the needle will be intermittently thrust slightly laterally for the purpose described.

3. In a sewing machine hem sewing attachment of the character described, a main frame adapted to be removably secured on the sewing machine presser foot supporting shaft in place of the ordinary presser foot, said main frame of the vertical path of the sewing machine needle, an element on said forward end of said arm adapted to engage said needle when said arm is swung from its normal position whereby to bend said needle slightly from its normal path, a cam wheel secured on said rotating element, a cam follower element on said arm in contact with said cam wheel, and a spring on said arm engaging said cam wheel on the opposite face from that engaged by said cam follower and maintaining said arm in normal position except when said arm is moved out of normal position by said cam wheel, whereupon with the operation of the sewing machine, the needle will be intermittently thrust slightly laterally for the purpose described.

4. A sewing machine hem sewing attachment of the character described including a main frame adapted to be removably secured on the sewing machine presser foot supporting shaft in place of the ordinary presser foot, said main frame having a side wall and a bottom portion, the forward end of said bottom portion formed into a presser foot, a stub shaft mounted in said side wall of said main frame for rotation on a horizontal axis, means adapted to be connected to and to be operated by the sewing machine needle shaft so as to produce rotation of said stub shaft with the reciprocation of said needle shaft, a positioning lever arm pivotally supported on said bottom portion of said main frame for limited swinging movement in a substantially horizontal plane, the forward end of said arm adapted to extend along one side of the vertical path of the sewing machine needle, an obliquely-extending flange on said forward end of said arm adapted to engage said needle when said arm is swung from its normal position whereby to bend said needle slightly from its normal path, a cam wheel secured on said stub shaft, a cam follower element on said arm in contact with said cam wheel, a spring holding said cam follower element of said positioning 7 lever arm in constant contact with said cam JAMES I-IICKEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Bosworth Dec. 11, 1877 Seaman Mar. 16, 1948 Number Re. 7,985 2,437,976 

